Why We Need Paragraphs

Why We Need Paragraphs Why We Need Paragraphs Why We Need Paragraphs By Sharon Reading a blog post or a web article should be easy. Some web pages have large blocks of text with very few breaks between them. When I see those, my brain does the TMI (too much information) dance and my eyes move on until they find something easier to look at. When you try to process an unbroken block of text, its like trying to eat a whole apple pie in one gulp. You may be able to do it, but youll probably get indigestion or choke in the attempt. Thats why paragraphs are important. Getting Attention Web readers have a short attention span. Thats why you need to make it easy. As you write, remember that you are taking your readers on a journey from point A to point B to point C. Paragraphs are just one of the ways that you do this. Web Usability When I worked as an editor, I spent a lot of time making long paragraphs shorter and making sure that each paragraph had a point. This also works for web content writing. All the advice I read on web usability suggests that you make one main point or cover one key idea in each paragraph. Then you expand on it a bit, then move on to the next one. That makes it easy for the eyes and the brain to process – and makes it more likely that people will read your blog posts. Using Subheadings Theres one more way to improve the experience for web content readers. Subheadings serve as navigational markers to tell readers whats coming in each paragraph. They can skip to the part that interests them, or get an idea whether they need to read the article or blog post at all. Use subheadings and small paragraphs and your readers will thank you and come back for more. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Writing Basics category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:How to Punctuate References to Dates and TimesHow to Punctuate with â€Å"However†45 Idioms About the Number One